Lead a Vocabulary Activity

Date:
2/20/08 ~20 min

Summary:
The Vocabulary Activity I lead was a sentence formation activity. Individual words which form sentence (atleast seven words) are written on note card-like paper. Each word is separate from each other. The student is given the task put the words back together to make the original sentence or on that makes sense (rarely there are two sentences that work). Within the sentence, one of the weekly vocabulary words is included.

Reflection:
One of the first things I noticed during this activity is that the students are very good at finding the first word and the last word in the sentence, this is because the first word is usually the only capital letter to choose from (unless there is name in the sentence) and the last word is always the only word with a period, exclamation mark, or question mark. After these two words have been placed in the appropriate place on the sentence line many student then become dependent on the teacher to finish the sentence for them, I swear you can see their brain shut off sometimes. To help the students with stay engaged, I encourage them to put all of the word face up in front of them, read all of them (no matter if they began with an upper case or end in a period), then begin to place in a sentence. This allows for the students to hear all of the words and begin thinking how they could possibly be related. Instead of giving up on the first two words, the students begin to look at it as a puzzle. This is expanding their literacy development and their vocabulary. By formulating a sentence with many words they know and a few they are less familiar with (the vocabulary words) the students get to see the vocabulary word in a new way. Not only are the students seeing the word in a different sentence, but they have to figure out where in the sentence the vocabulary word fits and makes sense. When relating back to class, we know that improved vocabulary is one of the components that make successful readers, and successful readers are also able to add more to their vocabulary by using approaches such as context clues. Therefore, it is extremely important to give young readers and students (second graders) an excessive vocabulary basis in which they can build off of when reading both in class and individually.

This activity does involve a certain level of trust with the students, which means a successful structure in classroom management. The students are expected to quietly, not silently, complete their task. However, they are also encouraged to ask question of their peers if they are not familiar with a word. They are also allowed to work with a partner if each partner has attempted the sentence independently and neither was able to complete it correctly. Some students choose not to ask for help and if they cannot finish a certain sentence, they simply put it away and attempt another one. This allows for a certain level of scaffolding, some sentences may be easier for students to complete than other, since the students are given the opportunity to choose which sentence they want to initially attempt, there is no penalty for the student deciding that a certain sentence is too difficult and to choose another one. Additionally, this allows for the students to take ownership of their learning. The students’ choice allows for them to own that sentence for as long it is in front of them, it is no one else’s to solve or move around, it is solely their problem, and they are the ones responsible for solving it. If they want to move on to a different sentence they can, but again, it is their choice.

From this experience, I take an approach to learning vocabulary with aligns with my personal beliefs about learning. This “station” is often seen as a fun station by many of the students. To hear the word “fun” come out of a second graders mouth when talking about learning is awe-inspiring. This is part of my personal belief, there needs to be more fun incorporated back into the classroom, in the form of learning. We know that authentic learning occurs when students are actively engaged and involved, and that is exactly what fun does, so why not make students enjoy what they do and gain a greater knowledge while they do it.